The New Quebec Parental Insurance Plan
What you should know
How to Apply
Transition Period
Parents Sharing Benefits
Place of Residence, Place of Work, and Mobility
Combining QPIP and EI Benefits
Benefits and Income Tax
Working Together
You can find answers to Frequently Asked Questions about EI and the Quebec plan...
What you should know
Since January 1st, 2006, the Province of Quebec is responsible for providing maternity, paternity, parental and adoption benefits to residents of Quebec through a program called the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP)
offered by the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity of Quebec (MESSQ).
From now on, residents of Quebec need to consult the province’s Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity for new claims for benefits, as well as for inquiries about the types of benefits available, eligibility requirements, and appeals.
How to Apply
If you are a resident of Quebec and would like to file a new claim for benefits for a birth or adoption, there are two ways to apply for benefits:
- By using the Québec Parental Insurance Plan on-line services. Or,
- By calling the customer service centre, at 1 888 610-7727.
Transition Period
The EI program is responsible for maternity and parental claims for all births or adoptions before January 1st, 2006, and also for any claims from parents who chose to receive benefits from the federal program in 2005 for a birth anticipated by February 25, 2006 at the latest. If you started receiving EI maternity and/or parental benefits for a period prior to January 1st, 2006, you will continue to receive these benefits until your claim ends. You will not be able to transfer to the Quebec provincial program. Also, because maternity and parental benefits are linked, if you received EI maternity benefits, you will also have to apply for parental benefits from EI for that birth or adoption. You will not be able to receive parental benefits from the provincial program. This rule extends to the child’s other parent sharing parental benefits.
Parents Sharing Benefits
QPIP and EI offer parents the opportunity to share parental benefits. In most instances, both parents will receive benefits from the same program — either EI or QPIP. In a few cases, when parents don’t reside in the same province when the first claim for benefits is made for a birth or adoption, the parents will have to apply for benefits from different programs. Parents who wish to share benefits must decide how benefits will be shared when the first parent files a claim for parental or adoption benefit. If the claim is filed in Quebec, the person should contact MESSQ. If the claim is filed outside Quebec, Service Canada should be contacted.
If the parents cannot decide how to share benefits when a claim is filed, the parent residing in Quebec will contact MESSQ and the other parent residing outside of Quebec will contact Service Canada. A formula, agreed upon by the Governments of Quebec and Canada, is in place to divide the weeks between the parents.
Place of Residence, Place of Work, and Mobility
If you are moving to Quebec and are currently receiving EI maternity or parental benefits, you will continue to receive benefits from EI.
If you are moving out of Quebec and are currently receiving QPIP benefits, you will continue to receive QPIP benefits.
If you work in Quebec but live in another province, you will not be eligible for QPIP. The EI program will continue to apply to you.
If you live in Quebec but work in another province, QPIP will be the benefit plan you will use.
Combining QPIP and EI Benefits
You may be entitled to EI benefits, such as regular benefits, sickness, or compassionate care benefits, for weeks that you are not receiving benefits from the Quebec plan. Benefits paid under the Quebec Plan can also extend the EI benefit period to allow the claimant to receive the maximum number of weeks of other EI special benefits, for instance sickness or compassionate care. Each week of benefits paid under the provincial plan will be taken into consideration when calculating the number of weeks of EI benefits to be paid per benefit period.
For more information, please call our telephone information service at 1 800 206-7218 from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm and press "0" to speak to a representative. You can also visit a Service Canada Centre nearest you.
Benefits and Income Tax
Like EI, QPIP benefits are considered taxable income and will be withheld at the source. To learn more about the tax implications of the Quebec benefit please consult the Canada Revenue Agency and Revenue Quebec.
Working Together
To ensure that both benefit programs run smoothly and to prevent fraud, the Province of Quebec and the Government of Canada have agreed to share information. This information includes Records of Employment, requests for benefits, and Social Insurance Numbers. The agreement complies with the Privacy Act
. For more information about your EI rights and responsibilities.
